I was really excited when Vaishali aunty announced the visit to Paalvaadi schools. I’ve always wanted to interact with children and this one kept me at the edge of my seat. However, honestly, I didn’t know I’d benefit this much. The trip to Nallur was more than just a trip. All those learnings have deeply impacted me. Thanks to BMIS for such an eye opener.

We’ve all voiced out for women, their rights, their security, their freedom. More than anyone, the women in rural areas have lacked the opportunity to be educated and to feel empowered. But women in Nallore village were not what we expected them to be. They were the superheroes of the village. A woman’s name in the place of head of the village drew a wide, wide smile to my face like we’ve achieved the impossible.

Nallore had traces of the urban, the people were well updated and aware of the outside world. The families knew how and where to invest money out of crop lands to be benefited to the maximum. Families were supportive of each other. The village, unlike many, had a Magalir kuzhu. A group of 20 women, interdependent and successful. They functioned really strategically; it was an applaudable initiative. Everyone was treated like their own family, if one required a loan, every other woman would give their share and support the other. It was a moment of pride for all of us to know how fructifying they were. We also heard about a famous woman auto driver, who amidst lack of support from her family, attended an auto driving course and is now the go-to of all the nearby college goers.

All the inquisitive children were the highlight of the trip. Every kid at all the three Paalvaadi schools were too hyperactive to our speed, yet a lot mature for their age. The diversity of their backgrounds didn’t matter even a little bit inside the walls of school. All I saw in them were eager learners, waiting for the right kind of resources. They set me the best example on how to use resources to our fullest. It was delightful to see them narrate stories and make beautiful connections to their real life during our read-aloud and flash card sessions! The teachers had made a lot of visible efforts to make the school environment lively and exciting for the children.

The entire time, our guide Mr. Vishwa, a final year B.com student, patiently handled all the chaotic fun we had with the little tots. He himself was a role model for us. Although they had to go through stressful processes for even the basic of things, he was determined and dedicated that the children in the village needed to reach heights. “Ipo namba avanga pinaadi porom, aana nalla padichu nalla mark edutha, olagame nambala thirumbi paakum. Adhaan ennaku venum,” he told us. [We might be going behind people to get our basic needs met today so that our children can receive quality education. My goal is make is to make the world turn around by when we come out successful.] He was the right kind of inspiration we needed. Setting aside all his semester works, he took tuitions for all the school children, just so they reach heights. A passionate soul he was.

All of us deserve to be given opportunities, regardless of our background.

An (unexpected) introduction

When we arrived at Nallore, I expected us to immediately get to business and do our read-alouds, puppet shows, and physical activities, but that was not the case. Instead, Raveen Master took us on a walk through the village, explaining to us about how the village’s land value rose due to the construction of his college, Great Lakes Institute of Management, and how the people used this opportunity in various ways, like buying tractors to rent out, investing in land in the city, buying luxury cars and building villas. This made us realize that economic opportunities exist everywhere, even in villages.

A walk in the park (or rather, through the fields)

Raveen Master also enlightened us about the farming practices in the village, and explained that agriculture was their main source of income. He also elaborated on how distributors used to do large markups when transporting produce, but they’ve been unable to do that since consumers have become aware of such unethical practices. We also talked about how the women in the village have become more independent from the men.

It’s go time (well, not really)

When we reached the first Paalvadi school, we expected about fifteen students to be present, but the actual number was only half a dozen. This might be why our large collective class strength apparently intimidated the little ones. It took a while for the read-aloud team members to get the kids to be comfortable around them while reading their big book. We let the kids do some colouring worksheets, and they displayed varying levels of interest.

Second chances (they don’t come about often)

When we reached the second and third Paalvadi schools, we had a much easier time getting the kids to be involved in our activities. In the second Paalvadi, the read-aloud team managed to make their storytelling much more engaging than in the previous school. The puppet show team also did a great job at keeping the kids curious about their stories. We also had some kids introduce their classmates who were reluctant to socialize, and this highlights the maturity they possessed for their age. In the third Paalvadi, the sports team had set up an activity for the kids, and they displayed varying levels of ability, with some being able to finish it in one go, while others needed a few more chances and more time.

Reflection (yes, we had to do quite a bit of this)

We learnt a lot from this visit. For instance:

• We learnt that the people aren’t completely unaware of the outside world; they know what’s happening outside their village, they just need resources to extend their reach.
• We also learnt about the structure of the government educational system at the primary and pre-primary levels: Each village has a Paalvadi pre-primary school, and several villages share a primary school, and several groups of villages share a secondary school.
• We also learnt a lot about teaching pre-primary children in the preparation process for this trip.

On March 2 2023, students from grade 8 and 10 visited 3 palvadi schools in Nallore – a village on the outskirts of Mahabalipuram. Honestly, I did not think I would benefit from this experience as empathizing with others is a skill I lack – at least I thought so.

We did 1 long week of rigorous preparations to ensure we gave them the best we could. Firstly, we divided ourselves into 2 major groups: the cognitive team and the physical and motor skills (sports) team. The cognitive team was further divided into 3 sub-teams: the puppet show, read aloud and activity teams.

Firstly, the sports team observed our PP1’s sports class with Jhansy Aunty to gain an insight into the different skills their activities were supposed to bring in. They prepared an age appropriate circuit workout which involved crossing hurdles and dropping hoops over themselves. They also prepared a game where the kids had to throw balls and pass blocks to their friends.

Meanwhile, the read aloud team picked out some big books, such as The Lion and the Mouse. A few of us (me included) went to see Renita Aunty’s read aloud to PP1 students. We made a note of her friendly body language. The read aloud team then included these observations into their own readings. The puppet show team took a few common English stories with simple morals like the Hare and the Tortoise and translated them into Tamil. Then, they began practicing with the hand puppets to Kindergarteners. The activities team had to analyze different hands-on activities which could engage the kids without getting them bored. We finally decided on a few flashcards and coloring sheets.

On March 2, we boarded the bus with full confidence, and an aim to give our best. We reached the village early and hence decided to tour it, learning more about their lifestyle in the process. I had a misconception that villages are not updated with current city trends, but it turns out they are very much up-to-date, especially with financial investments.

The first school we visited had only 5 kids, so a crowd of 30 students felt a little too much. We decided to only do one read aloud and make them do a coloring sheet of animals. Talking to them felt difficult. I helped them with the coloring, but talking to them was just impossible for me. Moreover, some of them got scared looking at a huge crowd of us and started crying out even more. Being the usual me I got impatient but tried my best to control it. I promised myself to  try harder in the second school.

It took around 11:45 AM to reach the second school. By then, we were all hungry and worn out, but managed 2 puppet shows and the second read aloud. The kids there were slightly older and more mature. Interacting with them was easier as they felt more comfortable talking to us. The puppet show, more than the read aloud, was a massive success as the kids loved to touch and interact with the hand puppets.

The third school was definitely my favorite, because I spoke to the kids there with such fluency! I was shocked at how easy talking to the kids was. I learnt more about them during the sports teams’ activities. From this, I got to know that they just needed someone to listen to their stories. They had so much to tell about their life. They related the pictures on the flashcard to incidents in their lives. Strangely, it felt stress relieving to talk to those kids. I realized that I just restricted myself from trying to talk to different types of people and made it a mental block that I cannot do it. Thanks to this visit, I’ve become better at understanding others, and learnt a lot on the way!

The village was located within vast agricultural lands, near a college. In the past years, as industry and infrastructure began to expand to this area the value of the land rose, so the residents sold their land and made large profits. Some invested their money in their agriculture, and we even heard about one of the villagers who’d actually bought land in Chromepet.

The disparity in the choices of investment was very visible when we took a small tour of the village. Firstly, we saw extensive farming equipment that had been rented out for the harvesting season, including a normal tractor that sat on top of an enormous tool used for agricultural purposes. The tires themselves towered over our heads. On the other hand, as we walked by the many village houses, we came across an enormous modern villa, one of a size and quality that I never expected to come across even in the city.

We’d originally planned on visiting the one Paalvadi (play school) we’d intended to present to, but we’d made our arrival a tad earlier, so we set off on a tour of the village. We walked by the houses and came across a few of the residents there. It was clear how urbanised and modern this village was, in relation to the more southern and remote villages of Tamil Nadu. There were vehicles pretty much everywhere, and a few residents whizzed by on their bikes and scooters. But there remained a few old-fashioned establishments and practices, most present in the vast agricultural lands. We walked across the chilli and groundnut plantations and made a note of the irrigation process used. While now, the groundnut fields are in their harvest season, a few months back, the grounds would be filled with water, almost as deep as a pond.

That’s where we met Vishwa, who came with us on the tour. He had studied in the college and was actually a teacher himself to the children at the village. He’d spoken in great length about how the excited the kids were for our visit. But more on that later.

After touring the village, we went to the government primary school a few minutes away. A little summary about the villages’ school system; for play school and pre-school, children can attend sessions at their local Paalvadis, and for their primary education, they go to a government primary school, one of which every few villages have. Then comes secondary education, which follows the same pattern, and is much farther away.

We looked at the government school, but we weren’t allowed inside, because of an earlier incident caused by visiting college students. But I am pleased to report that we were very disciplined during our visit, and our acquaintances were happy to have us, including the little children we met at the Paalvadi.

We then travelled to a Paalvadi nearby, the first of the trio we visited. There were only 6 children there, all of which who had seemed to be paralysed by our presence! But, with time, they began to warm up to us. We read-aloud a story from a large book (large as in big paper and text, not thick), Adithi was the first to make any real interaction with the children. As for me, I was sceptical about the kids there. They were very young, and I tended to be a bit afraid of little ones. But I could only wonder of what was going on inside the minds of those tiny toddlers. We were disrupted slightly when one of the kids broke into a cry, but we continued diligently.

Then, we waved goodbye and moved on to another Paalvadi, this one located near a few other concrete buildings. As for the Paalvadis themselves, they were quite extensive, and the experienced teachers were able to engage the students well and teach well with what little resources they owned. As for the second Paalvadi, there were a lot more resources. A rack for children to place their belongings, and a lot of play equipment. This is where we conducted our first puppet show, the moral of which was: Don’t tease other people about certain out-standing characteristics they display. Of course, the actual moral we gave them wasn’t as comprehensive, and characteristic of the rest of the puppet show, it was relayed in Tamil, a language that I happen to be less fluent in than French. But my minimum of knowledge in the speak, combined with the more advanced speech from Shriram and Rishmitha, both fellow classmates of mine, seemed to tell a story. Not necessarily the story that we’d intended on telling, but a story at that.

Then, the sports team setup their game course, and while I wasn’t as involved during that session as I’d been in the previous courses of presentations, the sports team relayed the plan comprehensively, and that too in the language of those toddlers, by shuffling around the course themselves in demonstration. The toddlers themselves were exemplary at completing the course, in my opinion. Some completed the course quickly, some didn’t do as well, but all is well in play! Then came the advent of some discussion. The kids split up, and sat with our group, and the interactions lasted for a while until it was time to pack up, not before we’d recognised a few more social aspects of these children. Firstly, I personally noticed that these kids worked, performed, and socialised better when educators conversed one-on-one with them. Secondly, we all noticed how some kids weren’t as social as others, but what stood out to some of us was that other, more ‘out-going’ toddlers helped us out by ‘introducing’ the shyer member of the group. Thirdly, I noticed that these kids weren’t as engaged with their environment and presenters as the toddlers in Budding Minds are. From visiting the younger children’s classes from our school, it was clear that the vast resources, colourful posters, and remarks surrounding them in their vast space kept them fully always engaged, and most of the children were actively engaged with the teachers themselves.

But the children here weren’t surrounded by so many colours, even with all that the Paalvadi could put up around them, they were more engaged by the little puppets we’d brought. So, there is a proportion between the colours and attractive resources, posters, and elements, and perhaps even the space around them with how engaged the children are.

Finally, we made our way to our original destination, the first Paalvadi we came upon. There was still large group here, and plenty of time for fun interaction. We put our learnings and recognitions of the children’s characteristics to use here, and some of us made a few new friends as well! One key recognition we all made from visiting this school was that some kids need to be listened to. There was this one toddler there (please excuse my use of the word ‘toddler’, by that I refer to a play school/preschool child studying in the Paalvadi, I apologise if there is any misuse of the term) who was very expressive, a lot more than the other kids in the group, and detailed little stories about where he’d come across certain elements pertaining to our presentation, like rainbows, and ice-cream. Of course, with the few teachers and staff there handling so many children, there wouldn’t be many to pay attention to this one child, but we realised that one-on-one learning could be much more important at this stage than we normally think, not only to education, to how the child grows, and how their social aspects are shaped and moulded.

Moving on, we sat down for lunch, accompanied by the child who kept talking about his past experiences (I’m afraid that I am terrible with names, for reasons that my mind cannot possibly conceive). We ate on the front ‘porch’ of a temple there, a very well-constructed one at that too, surrounded by plants and greenery that we soon found out was planted there by students of a resident teacher who had been to the college, who’d accompanied us from the start, as I’d mentioned earlier.

After lunch, he’d spoken to us in detail about what he does. He studied at the nearby college actually but remained in the village as a teacher to the older kids there. He’d learn the topics he was taking as he took them, and the classes were guided by the very YouTube videos we consume every day. The studying group made the best use of the resources they’d worked so hard to get, resources that we’d had so much more of given to us ever since we were little toddlers learning to walk. They’d protested and pleaded for all those educational resources, including even for just a schooling block. The young teacher there told us about how they’re trying to further advance and develop their educational ability, by introducing Silambam classes, and setting up after-school projects for the students. He kept mentioning how badly the students had wanted to meet us, and we promised to return and fulfil their wish. We further reflected on the experience and asked a few questions to him, and then solemnly made our farewells, and set off home.

As for me, interacting with so many kids are not a novel concept, yet each time it is interesting. Their brains are so much freer and more open to learning than ours, which is quite ironic as we’re the ones meant to learn more. Their interpretation of every life is exceptional, and not just the English commands Hariharan Master gave them, that they followed very well, they’ve been doing it with social skills and even physics ever since they were born, learning right from wrong, how to speak, how to ask for food, how to communicate, basically, to moving, standing up, walking around, running, throwing toys around, and so on! They’d learnt to reckon the trajectories and the sines and cosines of the many projectiles they’d released, be it a toy ball or even food, all through interpretation. The young mind is a completely blank slate, and the brain learns from each and every input and response, from the smells it detects, the colours it spots, the sounds repeated, to how things always fall down, how to communicate the fact that it’s (forgive my usage of ‘it’ to refer to the newborn baby) hungry, and so on. The blank mind can interpret its surroundings much better than even that of a grown-up expert. One can only wonder what a more experienced and informed individual such as yourself can do with that much interpretive ability. Perhaps you could surpass Newton, Einstein or even Feynman in cognition, Sherlock Holmes in problem-solving, psychologists, astronomers, quantum physicists, detectives and even AI in understanding. There are so many aspects to our world that all the important people fail to see. So, perhaps, the fresh perspective of a young child may very well be what the world needs.